Way Down Yonder at the Cherry Street Branch: A Short History of Evansville's Negro Library

Michele T. Fenton

Abstract

The Cherry Street Branch of the Evansville Public Library (now Evansville-Vanderburgh County Public Library) was the first library branch north of the Ohio River to provide services exclusively to African Americans. The branch was built through the efforts of director Ethel F. McCullough and a gift of $10,000 from philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. The Cherry Street Branch was also were Lillian Haydon Childress Hall, the state's earliest known formally trained African American librarian began her career. This article traces the history of the Cherry Street Branch during its years of operation (1914-1954).